Speaking at a McAffe event in Las Vegas, Intel's President Renée James stated that the current "opt-in" method of security used on devices today needs to go the way of the dinosaur, and security should be built in from the start and possibly be free to everyone.

"We believe that raising the base line of security to a level where at very minimum everyone is protected is not an opt-in any more. We have responsibility in the computing industry and we in particular as a leader in the industry, to make it non-optional. We're no longer living in a world where you can say 'yeah if you want security then turn it on. If you want a firewall go ahead and turn it on'. It's just not ok, to work like that anymore."

"From the get-go", was the way she referred to how devices, and device manufacturers should be viewing security. She also commented that since users should not have to opt-in, or out, that, "... maybe they shouldn't even have to pay for it, maybe it should be ubiquitous.", and later said, "We're going to build teeny teeny little things that all connect and can send data back, so it's not just the billion and half smartphones, it's the billions of other devices out there. You can't solve this one application at a time."

Expressing the fact that Intel has it's fingers into everything, they are in a unique position to take on the challenge of "fixing" security and that there were few companies in a position to do that. She was also honest enough to say, "It's not altruistic because we know we'll sell more if it's secure."

While the face of security issues and malware is continually evolving as the miscreants of this world work endlessly to defeat security on every level, Ms. James has a point in that every device should have at least a minimum level of security that cannot be shut off, either be the user or by some nefarious remote program. Your thoughts are welcome.